Sears has recently spun off its Sears Hometown and Outlet stores into a separate company. The deal is estimated to create $446.5 million in gross proceeds for the retailer.
So now there is a brand new publicly traded company that uses the Sears name. The Hometown stores and the Outlet stores are probably in a better state than the real Sears. The Outlet stores seem to do decent business and caters to bargain hunters. People want to buy things at discount prices, so the outlook looks pretty good for this new company.
The Hometown stores are a different type of business. A local owner runs the Hometown store and since the local owner has a financial incentive to run a successful store, these Hometown stores may see much better customer service than a corporate run Sears department store.
Many Hometown stores are remodeling the outsides of their stores now with brand new signs and pretty soon they may remodel the rest of their stores.